REID HALL

The Institute for Ideas and Imagination is located at historic Reid Hall in the heart of Montparnasse.

Named after Elisabeth Mills Reid, who acquired the property in 1893, Reid Hall was gifted to Columbia University in 1964. Throughout the years, it has transitioned from a porcelain factory to an orthopedic center; a protestant boarding school to a residential art club; a military hospital to a women’s university center; a French-American educational facility to its final iteration as a global educational and research center, bringing together students, faculty, and the general public.

Read the full history here.

Reid Hall welcomed the Institute in 2018. Our collective on-site activities are enhanced through the significant resources provided by Columbia faculty, students, and administration, complemented by the Global Centers network, our local and regional partnerships, and Columbia’s Paris-based academic programs.

In the summer of 2021, Dr. Brunhilde Biebuyck succeeded Dr. Paul LeClerc as Director of Reid Hall. Under their leadership, Columbia’s footprint at this historic institution has greatly expanded. Today it upholds its heritage of French-American cultural exchange, and launches a new generation of programs focusing on Europe and the world at large.

For more details about the Paris Center, click here.